TD Jakes tells Oprah he only spent 30 minutes at Diddy’s birthday party

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, June 20, 2025

Bishop T.D. Jakes joined Oprah Winfrey in distancing himself from embattled rapper Sean Combs, known by his stage name Diddy, by claiming that he only spent about 30 minutes at a party for the music executive.

Both Jakes and Winfrey clarified their relationship with Combs, who is on trial for federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, during the 2025 Good Soil Forum — a three-day event where minority business owners learn how to strengthen their companies. The event attracted approximately 2,000 people, who paid between $400 and $1,200 for tickets.

During a fireside chat about business and faith, Winfrey mentioned how nude images of her with Combs that were generated by artificial intelligence are still being circulated online, and she tried unsuccessfully to get YouTube to remove them, according to Fox 5.

"First of all, I have never been near a Puff party. I have never been near a Puff party," Winfrey reiterated to the audience at the conference. "And anybody who knows me knows if there is a party, I am the first one out. ... The nature of my personality is that I am not a party person. That is not who I am. I like to sit at home with my thoughts by the fire, with the dogs." 

Jakes then chimed in, stating that he only attended a party for Diddy once to wish him “happy birthday” and left within 30 minutes.

"Not only do they not know it, but they help spread it. ... I am almost 70 years old. What do I look like? I am a grandfather. What do I look like at this late day going? But that is the kind of world that we are living in," Jakes asserted.

In December 2023, Jakes publicly dismissed an unverified report casting innuendo about his sexuality and accusing him of being a frequent participant at sex parties hosted by Combs as "unequivocally false and baseless."

Jakes' name became a trending topic on multiple social media platforms at the time after a YouTube channel known as Tuff News TV embroiled the Woman Thou Art Loosed author in a now-settled lawsuit in which R&B singer Cassie accused Combs of rape, as well as repeated physical abuse over nearly a decade.

Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged that shortly after she met Combs in 2005 at the age of 19, he began a controlling and abusive relationship with her in which she was given drugs, beaten and forced to have sex with male prostitutes as he filmed. Combs allegedly hosted the orgies at high-end hotels across the U.S.

Tuff News TV host Germaine McKinley claimed near the end of a 37-minute video on YouTube that he received an email from an unnamed source alleging that Cassie turned over to investigators a burner phone that belonged to Kim Porter, the late model and mother of Diddy's children, who died in 2018. Cassie also allegedly shared a USB device containing recordings of Diddy's alleged "sex parties," where he reportedly hosted several powerful people, including Jakes.

Just over a year before those allegations emerged, a video of Jakes attending Diddy's 53rd birthday party in Los Angeles caused a stir on social media.

Derrick Williams, executive vice president of TD Jakes Entertainment, who was also in attendance at the party, told The Christian Post that the video was captured during a brief stop at the party while they were on business in the area. Another source close to the situation also told CP that, as far as they were aware, that is the only party hosted by Diddy that Jakes has ever attended.

Jakes is currently suing former-pastor-turned-registered sex offender Duane Youngblood for claiming he sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager some 40 years ago.